My Eyelids Appear Thicker and Lines Are Forming Under My Eyes After Using Minoxidil

Hello Dr,

Im 25 and have recently suffered hair loss on my crown. I have been using Minoxidil 5% to try and control it and it has worked quite well but my scalp gets quite itchy and spotty. Also people are commenting on my eyes, the lids appear thicker and there are lines appearing around my lower eyelid. I have mild acne scaring around my temples but this seems to have flared up and the skin pores enlarged. Do you think this is something that will go away in time or should I stop using this medication? thanks

Some people do develop facial changes with minoxidil. For example, women have reported increased facial hair growth when they use minoxidil somewhat frequently. As for lines under your eyes, some might be quick to point out that we’ve posted messages from readers in the past that suggested they had premature wrinkles caused by using minoxidil. There was a study on rats from years back that showed minoxidil use was inhibiting collagen production, but I don’t know of any study that shows that is the case in humans. For what it’s worth, I’ve never heard complaints about wrinkles being caused by minoxidil from any of my own patients.

It’s possible that what you’re experiencing is simply an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients in the medication, causing your puffy eyes. You could try stopping the minoxidil for a week and see what happens to the changes in your eyes. There is very little risk in stopping it for up to 2 weeks.